Just days after Millennium Films acquired the spec "Olympus Has Fallen" from first-time scribes Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, "300" star Gerard Butler has signed on to topline the action pic.Described as "Die Hard" in the White House, story follows a down-on-his-luck ex-Secret Service agent who becomes America's only hope when 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is taken over by terrorists.

Butler and his manager Alan Siegel will produce with Millennium prexy Mark Gill, while Avi Lerner will exec produce with Trevor Short. Production is skedded to start in September.

Butler has a trio of films coming out this year including Curtis Hanson's surfing pic "Of Men and Mavericks," and he's set to star in Lakeshore Entertainment's diamond-heist thriller "Brilliant," which starts shooting this spring in Boston.

Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesButler is developing the project about a Secret Service agent who must foil a terrorist attack on the president's residence; Millennium Films is the studio.Gerard Butler is attached to star in a White House-set action film called Olympus Has Fallen.

Butler's agency confirms the 300 star is developing the project, from writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, which centers on an ex Secret Service agent who must foil a terrorist attack on the president's residence. Millennium Films is currently seeking a director for the project.

Butler's most recent films, Machine Gun Preacher and The Bounty Hunter, have been box-office disappointments. But he stars in the upcoming surfing movie Of Men and Mavericks, directed by Curtis Hanson.

Pay Attention, Gerard Butler Is Trying To Let You Know That 'Olympus Has Fallen,' Plus Photos From 'Of Men And Mavericks'

It's taken a while, but Gerard Butler is finally going to answer his calling as an action star. The genre-hopping tough guy found success with a couple of romantic comedies, but his Oscar bid for "Machine Gun Preacher" fell short, so he's redoubling his efforts to become an A-List head-smasher. Butler's attached to Naval thriller "Hunter Killer," war picture "Thunder Run" and a heist film, "Brilliant," and now he's going to follow in the footsteps of fellow tough guys Clint Eastwood, Michael Douglas and Wesley Snipes. You guessed it: he's going to steal the Declaration of Independence save the President Of The United States, in the jargon-y sounding "Olympus Has Fallen."

Butler will play an ex-Secret Service agent in the actioner, in charge of stopping a terrorist attack on the White House. No other details have been released, but since he's an ex-agent, we do hope he's a rogue and a renegade. Butler's developing the project (which sounds a little like the abandoned Ryan Reynolds project "Motorcade") with neophyte writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, and the material is currently out to directors. Expect this to be a down-and-dirty affair, as it's from producer Avi Lerner and his fly-by-night Millennium Films. Millennium: where the shooting locations are obscure, the actors are paid in cash, and there is almost zero creative oversight.

Butler's slate is more than full, and he's got three movies coming this year from different genres. He'll get jokey in "Movie 43" and saucy in sports rom-com "Playing The Field". His best showcase is likely coming in Curtis Hanson's biopic "Of Men And Mavericks," however, playing a mentor to surfer Jay Moriarty. We thought Butler was strong in the recent "Coriolanus," and in a perfect world, he'd be able to do all sorts of films in different genres. But this stockpiling of action roles suggests he realizes he'll be a bit old soon, and it's better to wield a gun now than in the inevitable "Expendables IV." Photos via the New York Times.

After ending what seems like the world's smoothest and least-publicized stint in rehab, Gerard Butler has wasted no time setting up a lot of work for his newly healthy self. At the end of February he signed on to reunite with his The Ugly Truth director Robert LUketic for the diamond heist thriller Brilliant, and now he's got an even more high-stakes job lined up. According to Variety Butler will star in Olympus Has Fallen, about an ex-Secret Service agent called back into duty when he's suddenly the only person who can defend America against the terrorists who have taken over the White House.

That sounds…. insane. But also kind of fantastic, since as Variety themselves point out, it's basically Die Hard set in the White House-- an idea so obvious and brilliant I'm amazed John McClane himself didn't do it at some point. Butler has had big action star potential ever since his breakout role in 300, but he's never quite been able to capitalize on it, winding up in stuff as random as Nim's Island and P.S. I Love You, and only going for the action stuff in crap like Gamer and Law Abiding Citizen. He proved in last year's Shakespeare adaptation Coriolanus that he can really hold the screen with both a physical presence and acting chops, and if he brings even a fraction of that strength to Olympus Has Fallen, he might really have what it takes to be the new generation of John McClane.

Millennium Films just acquired the Olympus Has Fallen spec from writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, so it will likely be a while before the project gets going in earnest.

Between "Wrath of the Titans" and "Prometheus," Greek mythology has pretty much taken over Hollywood these days. So it's only fitting that Gerard Butler, the star of "300," is set to headline the upcoming action thriller "Olympus Has Fallen."

But is it madness? Is it Sparta? No, this... is... the White House!!!

Wait, what?

Okay, so the White House is a far cry from Olympus; in fact, according to Google, it's 4982 miles away. But as the residence of the most powerful being int he world, the White House shares symbolic real estate with the home of the gods. And who better to save it from invasion than King Leonidas himself?

Here's the deal: According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Olympus Has Fallen" "centers on an ex-Secret Service agent who must foil a terrorist attack on the president's residence." No director has yet been chosen, but with Butler on board as star, chances are that Millennium Films will put this one on the fast track.

Personally, we're hoping Jennifer Aniston plays the president. Whatever the case, though, it's good to have Butler back where he belongs: cracking skulls and saving democracy, one Olympus at a time.

Gerard Butler is attached to star in Olympus Has Fallen, an action film with a title so unnecessarily lofty it's just begging you to dumb it down to "the one where 300 saves the president." The script, from writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt, focuses on a former Secret Service agent tasked with stopping a terrorist attack against the president from within the White House. Gerard Butler picked the wrong day to pick up his final paycheck! Butler is producing with Millennium Films' Mark Gill, and the studio is currently looking for a director for the project. Somehow that director will end up being mid-'90s Wolfgang Petersen.